Are you a city, Chamber of Commerce, or a tourism related business? How’s your marketing plan looking? Here at Method Agency, we chat with lots of DMOs (fancy acronym for Destination Marketing Organization) about their digital marketing efforts (or lack thereof) and we’ve come away with a list of questions you need to be asking about your organization. Get comfy, pause your emails, and let’s take a real quick evaluation of your DMO Marketing!
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1. 1. Do you have an overall marketing plan or strategy in place? Are you using it?
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      Putting a plan in place gives your marketing strategy a focus and timeline. Even if it’s a loose framework for the coming year’s events and goals, a marketing plan is imperative for not only your organization but for any outside teams you hire.
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   2. Is your Marketing Plan diversified? Do you post to at least two social media profiles consistently?
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      Maybe you have an amazing Instagram that gets killer engagement, or have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. But if the recent Facebook Data scandal and their consistent algorithm changes have taught us anything, is that you cannot rely on ONE social networking site as the only element of your marketing plan. Facebook does not a marketing strategy, make!
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   3. Are you sending regular emails to your email list? (Do you even have an email list?)
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      Your marketing plan should include things like growing your email subscriber list and sending regular emails. There’s no greater antidote to algorithm changes and market fluctuations like OWNING the channels with which you communicate with your customers.
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   4. Are you blogging regularly?
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      We’ve talked about why every company should be blogging, but any DMO should DEFINITELY be blogging. Be publishing blogs on your website, you not only control the content (again, it’s about controlling as many outlets as you can) but you can become the go-to information source for YOUR organization or your city. This also helps increase your SEO efforts. Start blogging, people!
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   5. Do You Have Video Content?
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      If you don’t have video content already created or a plan to get some asap, you’re missing everything. Video is where it’s at on every platform and can be used again and again either edited or re-shared later. Potential visitors and customers want to be able to SEE where they’re planning a trip or big event. Show them what makes your destination special. Make video (and good photography while we’re at it) part of your marketing budget!
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   6. Are You Utilizing Digital Advertising – especially social media advertising?
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      We talk A LOT about digital advertising on our blog here, and insist that most every new client ear mark part of their budget for social ads. So many of the social media sites have become pay to play, and that’s just something we have to accept and plan for.
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   7. Experiment!
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      Have you tried at least one new marketing technique in the last quarter? A new social network, or a new ad, perhaps? Have you invited a social media influencer to your destination? Did you set up new segmented audiences in your email system?
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   8. RESEARCH!
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      Do you know WHO your audience is, off the top of your head, RIGHT NOW? Are they families, retirees, adventure seekers? What are their ages and genders, where do they comes from, how did they hear about your destination? How did they find you and how can you maximize it? You gotta know who your audience is before you can target them with your marketing plan.
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   9. Is your Website (and social media) optimized for Mobile? – How old is your website? Is it easy to use, and most importantly, is it mobile friendly? Are your social profiles optimized for mobile use?
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      Here are some eye-opening statistics* for you:

• In 2018, 52.2 percent of all website traffic worldwide was generated through mobile phones, up from 50.3
• By 2019, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending.
• 80% of social media time is spent on a mobile device
• Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.
• Average smartphone conversion rates are up 64% compared to the average desktop conversion rates.
• 88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.
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  Whew. Those statistics are HOT FIRE!! We love it and we want your website to be killer so that any person who is researching, or visiting you has any easy way to find out information about your destination. Can you imagine traveling to a new place with just your phone or tablet and not being able to access or properly view a website you need? They’re gonna move on to the next city or business instead of spending their money where you want it. Mobile optimization is vital in 2018.

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So we’ve reached the end of the evaluation? How did you do… are you on track and optimizing all marketing avenues for your destination? YAY!! Do you maybe need a little tune-up or a partner like Method? Contact us, we LOVE tourism marketing!

.*Statistics via Impact and Statista